The commemorative book “Suối nguồn Pleiku” (“The Source of Pleiku”) is divided into three sections: an overview of the history of high schools in Pleiku before 1975; the liaison committee of Pleiku high school alumni through different periods; and recollections and creative works by teachers and former students.
The historical overview provides readers with valuable information about seven schools: Pleiku High School, Bo De Pleiku Private Primary and Secondary School, Minh Duc Private High School, Saint Paul Private Primary and Secondary School, Plei Me High School, Pleiku Agricultural and Forestry High School, and Pham Hong Thai High School.
After a period of formation and development, the schools suspended operations in March 1975. Later, many were renamed and became the predecessors of today’s historically significant and accomplished schools in Pleiku.
For example, Pleiku High School, established in 1958, initially had only two classrooms for two seventh-grade classes. The school was located on Le Loi Street, sharing a campus with the Veterinary Department. In 1963, it moved to a new facility on Hoang Dieu Street (now Hung Vuong Street) and ceased operations around mid-March 1975. After the liberation of the South and national reunification, following several changes and mergers, the school was officially named Nguyen Du Secondary School after an expansion in 2005.
A significant portion of the book is devoted to the recollections and creative works of teachers and former students. Through each page, countless memories of old friends and former schools are recalled, and the stories of Pleiku’s land and people are retold with deep emotion. Each time an old place is mentioned, it evokes another wave of nostalgia.
In his essay “Remembering the First Days of My Teaching Career,” Nguyen Van Hao (former teacher at Pham Hong Thai High School) writes: “At the beginning of 1974, I set out for my first teaching assignment. From Cu Hanh Airport (now Pleiku Airport), I took a ‘xe lam’ (three-wheeled vehicle) and was directed to Ga Co grocery on Hoang Dieu Street to ask about lodging.
The friendly shopkeeper kindly showed me a temporary place to stay. During my first two weeks, whenever I needed to buy small items, I would visit her shop and have a few more conversations. Little did I know that a year later, that charming shopkeeper, by then an elementary school teacher at Thanh Tam School, would become my devoted wife”.
Le Huu Hue (former teacher at Plei Me High School) expresses his feelings in the evocative poem “Beloved Pleiku”: “Beloved Pleiku / Where I lived for ten years, with mist in the mornings and evenings / With the endless rain of longing / Each golden sunbeam pouring honey during flower season / The road you walked / Like a green rainbow of hope / Like a love letter yet to arrive / The tall pines whispering, stirring / The small town, as if your hand still lingers / Each step on the uneven stone stairs / The dry season wind swirling red dust / Luckily, I recognized you.”
The former Plei Me High School teacher is none other than poet Le Nhuoc Thuy, known for his many poems about Pleiku and the Central Highlands. In the depths of his heart, Pleiku remains intact—a wellspring of emotion and poetry: “Pleiku, wonderful in the lullaby of leaves / Where I lived passionately and fully under the school roof / Your eyes that day, brimming with affection / As if standing in the schoolyard filled with morning sunlight” (“Beloved Pleiku”), or: “I drift, standing in the mist / With the spirit of a wanderer, yet my wine gourd slips from my hand / Looking up to the sky, I call out to the mountain’s eyes” (“Mountain Eyes”).
Here are the memories of old Pleiku from Tran Thi Ngoc (former student at Plei Me High School): “Back then, my house was on Hoang Dieu Street (now Hung Vuong Street), just past the intersection with Trinh Minh The Street (now Tran Hung Dao Street). In front of my house was a silk-cotton tree; every afternoon, my mother would send me there to wait and help my younger sibling cross the street after school. The slender tree wasn’t tall and didn’t have many flowers, but I loved it. I remember when the wind blew, the cotton would burst out, swirling white in the air… I remember Trinh Minh The Street, where I walked to school with friends every day. The long road was lined with golden cassia trees in bloom. During flower season, there were butterflies everywhere. Plei Me’s female students wore white ao dai to school. When school let out, the street was filled with white ao dai, a sight so beautiful it left me in awe”.
In total, more than 60 pieces-prose, poetry, and music-capture the deep emotions of teachers and alumni from Pleiku’s pre-1975 schools, recalling their alma maters, the mountain town, and countless unforgettable memories. For Tran Thi Hoa (former teacher at Plei Me High School and Bo De Pleiku School), these feelings and memories endure and are enriched over time, especially through reunions and gatherings. She shares: “We once rowed the boat that carried the youth of the mountain town across the river, giving that generation the will to overcome difficulties and achieve great things in life. Most precious of all, our students still ‘respect their teachers and value friendship’, cherishing the bonds of youth by organizing heartfelt reunions between teachers and friends.”